16 May 2012

Father of Irish women's murderer charged

The father of a man suspected of murdering two Irish women last year in the province of İzmir has also been charged with their murder.

Eyüp Çetin, father of 22-year-old murder suspect Recep Çetin, has been accused of participating in the killing of Elizabeth Graham and her friend Kathy Dinsmore (both 53), who authorities say the Çetin men allegedly murdered in the woods on the outskirts of the city of İzmir in August 2011.

The Anatolia news agency has quoted police as saying that the younger Recep Çetin had confessed to the murders of Graham and Dinsmore, but the elder Cetin, who was taken into custody several months ago, was not formally charged until Sunday.

In a statement to the press, Barış Kaya, lawyer for the Graham and Dinsmore families, said that DNA evidence may place both Çetin men at the scene, stating: "DNA traces were found on a shoe belonging to one of the victims -- two distinct DNA profiles, of two people who are genetically related. … So, DNA confirms there were definitely two men at the crime scene."

The Çetin men allegedly murdered the two women after Recep Çetin offered the two women a tour of İzmir, while sending his girlfriend, Graham's daughter, on a boat tour.

Friends of the younger Çetin said the suspect and his Irish girlfriend, Elizabeth Graham's 15-year-old daughter, Shannon Graham, met last summer and were getting along well, noting that they find the incident unbelievable. At the time of his arrest, Çetin claimed that he was 17 and was jailed at the Bergama Children's Prison. In late 2011, however, bone tests revealed that Recep Cetin was 22, five years older than he claimed. Çetin was originally slated to be tried by a juvenile court, and authorities have not yet announced whether his trial will be moved to an adult court.

Elizabeth Graham and Dinsmore were on holiday in Kuşadası, about 100 kilometers from İzmir. Cetin told police after his arrest that the women had “prevented his dream of marrying Shannon.”

Çetin reportedly took the women in a taxi to İzmir from Kuşadası, where he worked as a waiter, and then used his father's car to take the women to a deserted forested area, where he stabbed them to death.

Mustafa Karatay, the owner of the taxi, who was detained in connection with the murders and later released, told Anatolia in August that Çetin had called him on the day of the incident for a ride to İzmir. Karatay said Çetin had been calm.

According to Karatay, Çetin had called him again that night to ask for a ride to a hospital in Kuşadası because his hand was cut. Karatay and Çetin were both detained by police at the hospital. Karatay remained in detention for two days, although he was unaware of the murder. Karatay said that Çetin, Çetin's girlfriend and her mother had often used his taxi services, and that the dialogue among the three was “very good.” “I had not witnessed any problem among them,” Karatay said.